1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card flats segment intended for a rigid mounting to a carding machine.
Carding machines are generally known to be available in three different design configurations, which configurations differ basically from each other regarding the machine parts which cooperate with the main drum of the carding machine. These machine parts can be designed in form of an unmovable, rigid flat card, of a revolving flat arrangement or of a worker roller pair. The revolving flat arrangements are applied mainly for the removal of contaminating matter and the revolving flat cards are applied mainly for a parallelizing of the fibres.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, revolving flat cards comprise a plurality of cast iron bars forming flats which are interconnected by chains and guided accordingly along a predetermined angular area at the main drum. Each individual cast iron bar is provided with a card clothing which can easily be mounted and replaced such as disclosed, for instance, in the published European patent application No. 0 091 986. Due to the relative small dimensions of the cast iron bars seen in direction of carding the card clothing can also be designed in a flat configuration which facilitates their construction and design.
The application of card flats plates on carding machines lead to the difficulty that the card clothing extends along a considerably larger sector of the main drum and must be mounted to a curvilinearly extending inner surface of a flat plate which is bent corresponding to the radius of the main drum. Such as is disclosed in the DE-AS No. 20 02 639 a complicated method is necessary to this end, according to which method the card clothing wires must initially be wound onto an auxiliary drum in a state in which the tips of the teeth face inwards, whereafter the flat plates are located thereupon and the card clothing finally mounted to these plates. An exchange of such card clothing wires at their operational site appears not to be possible such that in every instance the card flats plates must be sent back to the manufacturer thereof. This is also true for designs disclosed, for instance, in the CH-PS No. 639 433. The manufacturer in turn must utilize in such cases specifically designed equipment which cannot be applied in case of revolving flats.
Furthermore, such known carding machines having unmovable or rigidly mounted, respectively, carding plates are bestowed the drawback that due to the above described method of manufacturing a given carding flat plate must be provided with identical card clothing throughout its extent such that no graduation regarding fineness and setting is possible.
The GB-A No. 2 100 305 discloses a card flats segment including a plurality of rows of card clothing arranged consecutively relative to the direction of carding. These are, however, rigidly mounted on a common carrier and within guide elements machined therein and, therefore, cannot be individually exchanged at the work site nor be individually adjusted for an individual positioning; such procedures necessitate in fact an exchanging of the entire carrier.
The FR-A No. 750 191 discloses a carding machine having concavely shaped flats and a plurality of rows of card clothing is mounted to each flat. Because the mounting means thereof are located between the individual rows, large interstices in the direction of carding exist leading to a detrimental reduction of the carding effect. Furthermore, also this design does not allow an independent exchanging of individual card clothing rows and necessitate a returning of the entire carding flat to the respective manufacturer.
The same drawbacks exist in the designs in accordance with the disclosure of the DE-A No. 2 544 291 and of the FR-A No. 1 112 889.